John McCain offers 300 billion extended to over extended home owners. Remember? It is my plan, not Obamas, not GW Bush's.

Obama offers tax cuts.

If you are about to lose your home,
do you want a tax cut or maybe some help?

Sad stories,
several of these women offered their life and life insurance policy's to save the family home.

Congratulations! You now own these "ninja loans" (no income, no job,no assets) that federal law forced bankers to issue as per the "fair housing act".We were only trying to help those who otherwise had no ability to ever pay for a home to have one anyway! You now own these "toxic" loans! How do you feel? We feel great now because we got away with another one! Barney Frank, the chairman of the banking committee and other Democ-RATS were masterful in shifting the blame to greedy corporation. Yes, we did it again! Thank you for accepting the $700 billion burden we caused you.
Sincerely yours,
Your Federal Government.

The sad part is that many insurance policies have exclusion clauses that suicide is not payable on the policy. Along with not reading contracts carefully they don't read their insurance policy either. So then leave the cost of funeral expenses and this is why some have killed the entire families. The financial crisis has shifted from the CEO's to the consumers and their families. Even though Bush has bailed out the financial industry the consumers are still held liable for the corruption in lending it created. And the badgering continues as government and banking want the consumers and small business in trouble to take on more debt. Consumers are saturated with debt and credit and no real help is available. Their only help is to extend their debts and restructure loans and debts in to more long term financing many cannot get or go to jail and live on the streets. The financial leaders shuld be the ones going to jail or living on the streets in the crisis they created. The consumers are the backbone of the economy, not the corrupt financial industry. The bottom is still yet to come, after the $700 billion dries up.

I know this sounds horrible to discuss,
If you have a life insurance policy 'suicide is not allowed during the first 2 years for the policy.

Insurance and financial companies are struggling now and will not pay.

Horrible story.

Well what do they expect. A country like ours falling into the situation it is and probably will be evermore.....I don't blame people for taking that way out. Losing their money was NOT their fault!

Even though I am a retired military veteran (1/2 of my pension was awarded to the ex-wife that cheated on me and broke up our family) and currently a police officer, as soon as my son who is now 13 turns 18 I am emigrating to another country. After what our crooked politicians have done to this country, I am embarassed to be an American. The founding fathers would probably do the same if they could see what this country has become.

The US economy has been through crises before. Since the 1800s we have had 2 years of recession for every 6-8 years of growth. Sorry guys, but this is not the end of the world.

All of the hyperbole about this being the worst crisis since the Great Depression sells papers but doesn’t help with anxiety. Is the situation bad? Yes. But will it be another Great Depression? Probably not. Even so, this world is light years more prosperous and peaceful than we were during the Civil War or WWII. Infant mortality is down, life expectancy is up and while average family size has gone way down, the average house size has gone way up.

This is truly sad.

We should not change government policy because of this. We can not blame the government and expect them to make everybody happy. We need to respect the limitations of our government.

It is better for a society to reach out in humanity, than to bark at corrupt politicians. Times are tough and we need to take care of our families, neighbors, friends, and members of our community. This is not a time for blame this is a time for action by the people and for the people. We don't need government to love and serve others.

Blame is complicated. “Bailing out” the finance industry does not mean that fat cats are the ones getting bailed out while the average Joe suffers. The market is owned by all of us! (401-ks, IRAs, etc).

Now, whose to blame? Did the Clinton administration pressure Fanny and Freddy to give dubious loans? Yes. That’s part of it. Were there also predatory brokers and lenders? Yes. Were there millions of people who borrowed beyond their means and knew better? Yes.

We have been told for generations not to borrow beyond our means. In 1998 Gordon B. Hinckley told people not to borrow in excess—that a storm was coming. A few years later Thomas S. Monson said to avoid HECL loans. Did anyone listen? I don’t wish to sound harsh, but in MOST instances, MOST of the blame for foreclosure belongs to the person being foreclosed on. I realize there are some instances when it’s not that simple, but that’s why I say “most”.

What's really sad if these people had been on more stable ground financially (emergency fund, modest mortgate payments, etc....)they might have not been driven to such extremes.... this is sad!!!!

Homeowners in this situation are usually most culpable. No matter what a bank/mortgage c. WOULD lend, the borrower is ALWAYS at fault for borrowing more than they had capacity to repay.

This is society's problem and caused almost exclusively by the CONSUMER over-extending themselves financially so they could have what they want RIGHT NOW instead of actually buying it after having saved. This is not primarily the fault of banks/corporations/government.

Just people making stupid decisions and trying to shift blame to someone else.

Good riddance!! Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

I love how everyone tries to lay the blame on someone other than themselves. Shame on the banks and mortgage companies for selling unfair and unethical mortgages, but shame on people for buying a home they could not afford and for failing to read the fine print. There is plenty of blame to go around - those that sold the mortgages, the government for lax regulations and for consumers for NOT reading the find print on the documents they signed and for NOT paying their bills.

Buyers are responsible for signing closing papers but banks also bare a great responsibility. Most people don't understand or read all the fine print during the closing, but are more excited about getting the key to the home of their dreams. I remember my parents problems during the great depression and I remember them proudly pointing to one local Savings & Loan Institution that didn't foreclose on any of their outstanding debtors. They worked with them and gained a great amount of respect in the community for their christian attitude. Guess who my parents went to for a home loan when they were able to buy a home.

Suicide is not an exclusion on a Life Insurance policy except in the first 2 years, after that Life will pay out.

The fault here should lie as a 60/40 split between the banks (60) and people (40), IMO. People should be smart enough to recognize they can't afford everything at once, you have to work hard and earn your way in life. Banks, however, should be held more responsible because they are the ones that are trained to understand the confusing world that is lending money. If a bank is irresponsible enough to make these joke loans that pay interest only or any number of their other scams, they should be put out of business on the spot. Credit reports and FICO credit scores are a sham, a purely bogus number created to make money for the reporting agencies. Why do you think you can get your report for free but you have to pay for the score? Because its purely a money making tool, the number means NOTHING.

I work for a bank and suprisingly we are making money...why? BECAUSE WE DONT LEND TO PEOPLE WHO CAN'T PAY IT BACK. What a novel concept...

It was a judge that awarded 1/2 of your pension to your ex-wife. I vote NO on ALL judges and you should as well. I don't know what it will take to get other to also vote NO on ALL judges.

About the financial crunch: It really is the fault of the person taking out the loan. It happens all the time. People overextend their finances in hopes for a pay increase that will off-set the loan payments. That was the selling point of the Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM's) that you can have a lower payment and lower interest today and plan for your pay increase to help in the near future with the increase in mortgage payment. Remember how the government bailed out the homeowners that got into these ARM's a few years ago? That was very unfair to the person who plans better for their future.

Greedy local banks, mortgage companies and realtors are equally to blame for letting people get into situations like this, witness the radio adds for mortgages. The big bad Wall Street institutions have their faults, but they are not alone. It's easy to point to those far off when the blame is closer to home.

makes me wonder how the native americans felt ..when the rug got pulled out but they are still here going strong!Get it together America!VOTE!

Mexico has used trickle down economics for nearly 100 years. Only is the nation were the only thing fat are the vultures, do the rich own more of the nation's wealth than in America.

It was a Mexican poet who made the vulture observation, not me.

I roll my eyes at all the people who blame banks as being greedy. Banks are a for-profit business! They are supposed to make money and if they don't, they get penalized. Now, in the current situation, there are banks that did their business very poorly and they should be penalized for that, but don't blame them for your bad decisions.

Everyone in my entire family lives better than I do. Am I jealous? No, everything I have is paid for. So who does everyone want to help them out of their difficulties? You guess it. ME. For once I am going to "Just say no" to any borrowers. I live a very comfortable life without the frills. Try it! You may find you like it. You sleep well at night. You can still shop, read and enjoy life. I found out when I was young that it is better to climb the stairs one at a time instead of pole vaulting to the top and missing the top step.

What the current coverage of the financial crisis fails to mention is that there are thousands upon thousands of healthy, viable and disciplined banks and bank boards that did not get drunk on phony assets. These respectable and liquid and strong companies are waiting on the sidelines with billions and billions of dollars in captial to invest when the dust all settles. The most difficult task they have had this past month is trying to decipher what the intetions of the federal goverment in America really are. They have the resources, the know how and the expertise to go on being just as strong and disciplined as they were before a few took down all the scaffolding. This is NOT the end of the world as we know it. There will be another up cycle that follows this down cycle we are in, rest assured. Oh, by the way, greed is what makes the wheels of capitalism turn and turn and turn, so don't think for one minute that making a tidy profit is to thought of in disparaging terms. It's what makes the world go round and round and round. Enjoy the ride -- it WILL get better!

Are you comparing Mexico's economy favorably against the US economy? Uhhh, this is a great example of why we need a comprehension test to qualify to vote. We get stuck with politicians and leaders voted into offices by people who have NO CLUE. Demos=Depression; Repubs=a slight chance of getting out of this...if you listened to McCain's speech you heard somebody in government finally saying they weren't going to SPEND as much!!! Barack's bill is for a trillion more in spending then we currently are=more taxes, less innovation and deeper into this mess we're in. Know the issues and vote on what we need, not on emotion!!! Or if you don't know the issues or the consequences of your vote, DON'T VOTE!

Blame: Always remember, "Nobody can do it like Countrywide can!". Excuse me, that should read "Nobody could do it like Countrywide could!".

Bob G: Thanks, for the tip on FICO credit scores - report is "free", but score you pay for. Also, wish more people could recognize the difference between commercial banks (like yours) and investment banks, to wit, commercial banks lend only to those who can and will pay you back whilst investment banks just repackage and sell off as "derivatives".

Just think fans, of the many thousands of bean-counters (MBAs, CPAs, accountants, etc.) who will be graduating from the nation's colleges and business schools, the majority of whom will have one overreaching goal - to be millionaires by the time they are 35 so that they can then go out and solve the world's ills while having no financial worries of their own. Good luck, baby-boomers !

To McCain 08: The government shouldn't be giving any handouts, either to banks in the form of a bailout, or checks to people who made poor financial decisions.

What is going on is a tragedy, but no more of my tax money should be going to bail out those who made unwise decisions.

Printing more money out of thin air will only compound the problem.

This is 100% the fault of George W. Bush and all elected conservative Republicans, not to mention Shawn Hannity, Rush Limbagh and Bill O'Reilly's involvement. No Democrat in former administrations or the current Democratically controlled Congress had anything to do with the mess we're in now.

Oh, wait. I thought I was commenting over on the Salt Lake Tribune site. Sorry about that.

If Hussain Obama hadn't thrown his hat in the ring for the Presidency, then we wouldn't be hashing over all these details. The Republicans would be glossing over the mess with more blue sky and selling patriotic pride. So I think Mr. Obama is to blame. Besides didn't he say that the good Rev Wright preached loosening the credit guidelines for fanny mae and freddie mac loans? So there you go - lets all blame Obama mama rama.

Two chickens in every pot.......yup, everyone gets everything courtesy of the benevolent politician, AT THE PUBLIC'S EXPENSE! We need to understand that the money has to come from somewhere, and it's usually taxpayer funded.......that's you and me folks.

Ain't no such thing as a freebee from Uncle Sam. We paid for it, will pay for it, are paying for it.

you know its funny the only people that have even brought up politicians are conservative posters. "its all W fault" if you look back you are the only one to mention Bush, get over your persecution complex already.